Sporadic fire broke the silence of the night, the raiders kept firing—perhaps too much firing—they only had the ammunition they carried with them, there was no supply wagon, and too, their food was limited.

Lieutenant Calhoun called a cease-fire and ordered his men to get some rest—they would attack at dawn. Sentries were posted to keep watch on the cabin.

What they didn’t know, is that one of cabin’s occupants had been wounded—gravely wounded.

Big Mac is a war veteran, and was accustomed to sleeping lightly. He was already sprinting for the ladder, having heard the tell-tale thump of a body falling to the floor above. On his way he grabbed his saddlebags.

He found Bart on the floor next to the cast iron stove; he was bleeding from the chest area and back, indicating the bullet went all the way through.

He found Bart on the floor next to the cast iron stove

The fact Bart was still alive and his heart beating indicated the bullet missed his heart, but he was having difficulty breathing. Mac quickly fashioned two compresses for the entry & exit wounds and wound bandaging all the way around over both compresses, sealing the chest cavity thereby easing his breathing. It was all he could do; Bart required medical attention—soon.

“Oh…my!” the wildcat exclaimed, female wildcats were scarce enough, but a sentient female wildcat? Puma Guépard had not, until now, found such a creature, “You travel in strange company, ‘Minou,’ unless, of course, it is food?”

“Beware o’ too-confident kitten, I am LaChat Sauvage, Queen of my forest, where there are many who are sentient, and my companion is Akecheta-Apenimon, CanineKnight of the Realm the sentient instructor of WolvenKing LeToil duNord, WolvenKing [Star] of this forest.”

Taken aback, Guépard quickly concluded these were not ordinary creatures, and he had heard of this “wolvenking,” and his lieutenant, Renegade, “This small canine has quite a title, she is a warrior?”

“She twice defeated the sentient wolf known as 'Renegade,' and he is now her ally—as am I.”

“She twice defeated the sentient wolf known as ‘Renegade,’ and he is now her ally—as am I.”